Barkly Highway State School - Term 2 Week 8

Principal's Welcome

ANNUAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN - PRIORITY AREA 3

Our Annual Improvement Plan, 

• Priority Area 1 - Engagement and wellbeing through student voice and
• Priority Area 2, Teaching and learning of focused reading

have been  highlighted in previous newsletters.

Our last focus is Priority Area 3, Mathematical problem-solving and over the past week, the team have been concentrating on the use of open-ended learning activities in regular maths lessons. This effective element of a mathematics lesson helps to improve children’s problem solving ability.

Our teachers have been watching their colleagues work and participating in professional learning both online and in after-school meetings to build a common understanding of effective mathematical peddagogical practices to improve problem solving ability of our diverse learners.  

BUILDING STAFF CAPABILITY

Each year, early career teachers attend the Beginning Teacher Induction Conference which takes place at the Mount Isa CLAW (Centre for Learning and Wellbeing). Our beginning teachers participated in this two-day program which covered:

· A deeper dive into classroom management

· Cultural Capability-practical strategies to support IEALD learners

· Professional Practice that Works- igniting learning in K-2, 3-6 & 7-12

· Moving from Provisional to Full Registration with the Queensland College of Teachers

· Supports available: RoRRs, Employee Assistance Program, QTU and more

Here are a few thoughts from our teachers who attended:

“The beginning teachers conference was an opportunity to further develop my knowledge of the 10 Essential Skills for Classroom Management”.

“The CLAW PD was an amazing experience that assisted with creating a tool kit of strategies all beginning teachers should know.”

“It was an opportunity to celebrate success and engage with other beginning teachers from surrounding schools”.

Later in the year, the program will continue with reflection and follow-up actions.

Looking forward to finishing off a very busy term with an even busier last week!

Kind regards,

Fiona Kropp

Deputy's Report

Celebrating Classroom Work

Next week is our final lesson for our Year 5/6 Mathematical Inquiry Grand Challenge (Measurement and Geometry):

This Grand Challenge to engage our year 5/6 students and deepen their understanding of applying an inquiry approach when solving problems in measurement has been running for 5 weeks so far this term. Our 5/6 teachers have sent home parent/carer consent forms to allow our students access to the websites being used throughout this challenge.

The children are enjoying learning using new technology. This challenge has continued being taught in collaboration with the Regional Science Technology and Mathematics (STEM) Champion, Maree Flynn and the Deputy Principal: Global Tropics Future Project from Thuringowa State High School, Wendy Bode on Wednesdays from 11:30-12:30 online using the iSee application. It is the final week of the grand challenge next Wednesday.

Our students are finalising answering this Inquiry Question: What is the best box to hold 2 different sized items that are packaged as pyramids? We have had five online lessons, so far.

1. In the Develop phase of our inquiry last week, our students have developed the best package/box shapes to hold the two different sized pyramids and the evidence they will need to convince others that their package is the best.

2. In the Defend phase of our inquiry this week, our students have begun creating a presentation providing mathematical evidence to justify why their package is the best.

Naidoc Week

This year, the theme for NAIDOC Week is Get up, Stand up, Show up. Barkly Highway State School will be recognising the importance of NAIDOC Week by having students engage with authentic learning activities to raise their awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. This is a wonderful opportunity for schools and communities to come together on Friday, 24 June to celebrate and learn about the first custodians of our land. We are welcoming families and community members who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander to share their knowledge of culture with our students. If this is you, please email Donna Freestone at dxfre2@eq.edu.au by Friday, 17 June 2022.

4 Gold Orienteers

Last Thursday 4 Gold decided to throw the plan out the window and become orienteers of Barkly Highway State School! Throughout the day, we used our Science skills to create a compass out of a needle, a magnet and water. We made our own binoculars and compass for very serious mapping and even took the initiative to use our compasses to answer the questions on our worksheet at the end of the day. I am always so proud of 4 Gold for always being so flexible to any change of the day and to take on any challenge with a smile!

Maths Days - 1 Blue

In 1 Blue this term we have continued to participate in literacy/maths themed learning days (Maths Club).

This fortnight our day looked like this! 
1. We prepared ourselves for our role by making our chef hats and adding a little bit of flour to our cheeks! We were also super lucky to have Kayden’s mum let us borrow some aprons! We built some background knowledge of Italy, pizzas, chefs etc by chatting and watching some YouTube clips. 👨‍🍳🧑‍🍳
2. Next up was spelling! We learnt to spell words like menu, sauce, ingredients and oven! 🥫🍝
3. Then came reading rotations! 📖 We read a procedure on how to make a pizza! We then had to buy the ingredients before making them. We popped them into the oven and got to eat a piece after lunch! ⏲🍕 (Financial Maths) 
4. After lunch we had a “trial” for the new positions going in our newly made pizza shop in the classroom (student built). 1 Blue had to prove themselves by finding routes to deliver the pizzas on time! The children had to consider red lights, traffic jams and children crossing the road. 🚗💨🎖(Directional & Positional Language)
5. We started matching 3D shapes to the pizza toppings so that they could be used within the shop. (Shape)
6. The children got to continue to make items for the shop! 
We love our Maths Days in 1 Blue! 

Book Week

Book Week this year is celebrated from 20-26 August. We have our traditional Book Week Dress-up Parade planned for Term 3, Friday 26 August from 8:25.

Who is your favourite Book Character? Is it the Wimpy Kid or Pig the Pug? Or maybe Alex Ryder in one of his adventures? Or possibly a historic character like Captain Cook or Ned Kelly? Or a Fairytale figure like Rapunzel or the Gingerbread man? Or…or..or

Let your imagination soar!

Events & Flyers

Want to know what's happening within the school? Check out our School Calendar to keep up to date.

https://barklyhighwayss.schoolzineplus.com/calendar/1

Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/barklyhighwaystateschool

Please find attached timetables for our Junior & Senior Sports Days